VIDEOS

Darren Aronofsky’s biblically inspired epic Noah is a film that the Oscar-nominated director had been researching for, in some way or another, since seventh grade, when he wrote an award-winning essay about the character and his fabled ark. Decades later, having obsessed over the story and poured over numerous translations of the biblical text, Aronofsky adapted his vision of Genesis’s Noah flood narrative for the screen, with Russell Crowe in the lead role, industrial-size rain machines on hand for atmosphere, and the seventh-grade teacher who sparked his interest for the subject cast in a cameo role.

In celebration of the project, we sat down with Aronofsky and Noah co-star Jennifer Connelly, who plays Noah’s wife, last weekend. Among the subjects discussed: how the director felt after pushing his lead actor to near hypothermia and fits of uncontrollable sobbing, episodes Crowe has described in press interviews; meeting the pope; and why Aronofsky’s Noah is so surprisingly fashionable.